D-Link

D-Link Systems, Inc. (formerly Datex Systems, Inc.) is a Taiwanese multinational manufacturer of networking hardware and telecoms equipments. It was founded in 1986 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.

History

Datex Systems was founded in 1986 in Taipei, Taiwan.

In 1992, the company changed its name to D-Link.

D-Link went public and became the first networking company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1994. It is now also publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1988, D-Link released the industry's first peer-to-peer LANSmart Network Operating System, able to run concurrently with early networking systems such as Novell's NetWare and TCP/IP, which most small network operating systems could not do at the time.

In 2007, it was the leading networking company in the small to medium business (SMB) segment worldwide, with a 21.9% market share.[1] In March 2008, it became the market leader in Wi-Fi product shipments worldwide, with 33% of the total market.

Controversies

Backdoors

D-Link systematically includes backdoors in their equipment that compromise its users security.[5] One of the prominent examples is xmlset_roodkcableoj28840ybtide, which contains the substring roodkcab, which is the word backdoor written backwards.[6]

In January 2013, version v1.13 for the DIR-100 revA was reported to include a backdoor in the firmware. By passing a specific user agent in an HTTP request to the router, normal authentication is bypassed. It was reported that this backdoor had been present for some time.[7] This backdoor however was closed soon after with a security patch issued by the company.[8]

Information about the CVE-2024-6045 backdoor was published in the National Vulnerabilities Database (NVD) in 2024.[9][10]

Vulnerabilities

In January 2010, it was reported that HNAP vulnerabilities had been found on some D-Link routers. D-Link was also criticized for their response which was deemed confusing as to which models were affected and downplayed the seriousness of the risk.[11] However the company issued fixes for these router vulnerabilities soon after.[12]

Computerworld reported in January 2015 that ZynOS, a firmware used by some D-Link routers (as well as ZTE, TP-Link, and others), are vulnerable to DNS hijacking by an unauthenticated remote attacker, specifically when remote management is enabled.[13] Affected models had already been phased out by the time the vulnerability was discovered and the company also issued a firmware patch for affected devices for those still using older hardware.[14]

Server misuse

In 2006, D-Link was accused of NTP vandalism, when it was found that its routers were sending time requests to a small NTP server in Denmark, incurring thousands of dollars of costs to its operator. D-Link initially refused to accept responsibility.[25] Later, D-link products were found also to be abusing other time servers, including some operated by the US military and NASA.[26] However, no malicious intent was discovered, and eventually D-Link and the sites owner Poul-Henning Kamp were able to agree to an amicable settlement regarding access to Kamp's GPS.Dix.dk NTP Time Server site, with existing products gaining authorized access to Kamp's server.[27]

GPL violation

On 6 September 2006, the gpl-violations.org project prevailed in court litigation against D-Link Germany GmbH regarding D-Link's inappropriate and copyright infringing use of parts of the Linux kernel.[28] D-Link Germany GmbH was ordered to pay plaintiff's costs.[29] Following the judgement, D-Link agreed to a cease and desist request, ending distribution of the product, and paying legal costs.[30]

former name	Datex Systems, Inc. (1986-1992)
type	Public
foundation	1986
location city	Taipei
location country	Taiwan
area served	Worldwide
industry	Networking hardware Telecoms equipments
products	Routers DSL/cable gateways Cable modems Wireless adapter Home automation devices Switches Wireless access points Wireless repeaters Mobile hotspot Network attached storage Surveillance IP cameras
key people	Victor Kuo (Chairman)
owner	Taiwan Steel (67%)

History

Examples of D-Link products

Controversies

Backdoors

Vulnerabilities

Server misuse

GPL violation

See also

External links

References